Alma Mahler stays a captivating determine. Musically lively as a composer, albeit for a comparatively quick time, her life has been somewhat overshadowed by her relationships. She married the composer Gustav Mahler, the architect Walter Gropius, and the writer Franz Werfel, while her affairs included the painter Gustav Klimt, the composer Alexander von Zemlinsky and the painter Oskar Kokoschka. The loss of life of daughter Manon Gropius partly impressed Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto.
Since her loss of life in 1964, her life has impressed all kinds of artwork and music. Britten devoted his Nocturne, Op. 60 to her. American satirist Tom Lehrer described her obituary as “the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary it has ever been my pleasure to learn” and he wrote his music, Alma about her [see YouTube]. Stephen McNeff and Aoife Mannix’ opera Past the Backyard was impressed by Alma Mahler’s relationship along with her daughter. The opera was commissioned by Slovenian Chamber Music Theatre and premiered by them in Slovenia in 2019, and obtained its UK in 2022 [see Stephen’s article about the opera]
Now, Alma Mahler’s life has impressed one other composer. Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sheriff’s five-act opera, Alma, with a libretto by Ido Ricklin, receives its premiere on the Vienna Volksoper on 26 October 2024. Directed by Ruth Brauer-Kvam and carried out by Omer Meir Wellber, the work asks the query, what occurs when a lady is compelled to surrender her potential as a composer? A portrait opera, the piece focuses on Alma as a mom, with Alma being performed by soprano Annette Dasch.
Full particulars from the Volksoper web site.
